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AMC braced for Hillerman’s Dark Winds

AMC Networks in the US has greenlit an adaptation of Tony Hillerman’s crime fiction book series Leaphorn & Chee for cablenet AMC and streaming platform AMC+.

Dan McDermott

Titled Dark Winds, inspired by the fifth novel in the series The Dark Wind, the adaptation is created and exec produced by Graham Roland and produced by AMC Studios.

The plot follows two Navajo police officers in the 1970s Southwest as their search for clues in a grisly double murder case forces them to challenge their own spiritual beliefs and come to terms with the trauma of their pasts. Season one will include six episodes and is expected to premiere on AMC+ and AMC in 2022.

Kiowa Gordon (The Red Road) and Zahn McClarnon (Westworld) star, with the latter also exec producing.

George RR Martin, the fantasy author whose novels were adapted as HBO’s Game of Thrones, and Hollywood star Robert Redford also exec produce, as do Tina Elmo and Vince Gerardis (Game of Thrones). Vince Calandra (Sharp Objects) is showrunner and exec producer, while Chris Eyre (The Seventh Fire) will direct the pilot and exec produce.

Dan McDermott, president of original programming for AMC Networks and AMC Studios, said: “This is a rich and deeply unsettling psychological thriller set in a world we know viewers will appreciate experiencing for themselves.

“The series order is the product of several months in a writers room staffed entirely by Native American writers and it is a series that will be brought to life by those storytellers, with a cast led by Zahn McClarnon and featuring Native American actors, filmed largely in and around Native American lands, with the full support and blessing of the Navajo Nation.”

Navajo Nation president Jonathan Nez added: “This week, the Navajo Nation lifted more Covid-19 restrictions to welcome visitors and tourists back to Diné Bikéyah. We look forward to welcoming the film crew and we hope this will serve to draw more interest from production companies and draw more tourists to boost our economy and contribute to the ‘buy Navajo, buy local’ initiative.”

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